Social Wasps

Mothman

After seeing no wasps last year, I'm back to usual of having plenty nests in garden. but it may be news to many that there are quite a few species of social wasps in Ireland.
Here's a great guide

Of the 4 nests around the house, three are Tree Wasps (sylvestris)and the other is Common Wasp (vulgaris)

The vulgaris nest is I think underground. 2 of the sylvestris nests are in a shed and are approaching football size and the other is in a blue-tit nest box.

In Ireland I think we also have at least the following species
Red Wasp
German Wasp
Norwegian Wasp (not illustrated in the guide I linked to)

amandstu

Not really that fond of them but I have noticed they make a hell of a racket in the garden.
They drill into bamboo canes and you can hear it from quite a distance.

They seem pretty solitary .I have never seen a pair of them doing that (you know -like a woodpecker)

In the house we get them in awkward places every other year.Once it was in the ceiling and they started to crawl through a hole they made in it into the kitchen.

If you put your hand against the ceiling you would feel the warmth of the nest -as well as the murmuring ...

I had to destroy that nest but normally we can just wait them out

Mothman

In addition to Tree wasp and Common Wasp, I also have Norwegian Wasp and German Wasp in garden.

Also a possible sighting of Red Wasp.

V Bull

I was out doing a bit of a clean up in the garden today around my apple trees when I noticed several wasps attempting and struggling to fly off after feeding on some fallen apples. These apple were well rotten, probably well fermented too.

My question… is it possible that they were drunk from feeding on these apples?

Birdnuts

I see Angus is no longer with us:(

tommyombomb

V Bull wrote: »

I was out doing a bit of a clean up in the garden today around my apple trees when I noticed several wasps attempting and struggling to fly off after feeding on some fallen apples. These apple were well rotten, probably well fermented too.

My question… is it possible that they were drunk from feeding on these apples?

Yep most definitely. I used to say at my cousins a lot as they had loads of apple trees. He used to laugh that the apples were so Irish only they would find a way to get drunk.

They get real sleepy and sluggish and some spend ages on the apple.

dodderangler

I was out the back yesterday in the sun on my skinning table skinning some rabbits I had shot the night before and my god one wasp appears and feckd off and must've told his buddies about the meat there and next thing I'm swarmed with them with one managing to sting my dog while she slept under the table.
And other day I watched one killing a fly on top of the bin and then flying away with it.

itsnotmyname

dodderangler wrote: »

I was out the back yesterday in the sun on my skinning table skinning some rabbits I had shot the night before and my god one wasp appears and feckd off and must've told his buddies about the meat there and next thing I'm swarmed with them with one managing to sting my dog while she slept under the table.
And other day I watched one killing a fly on top of the bin and then flying away with it.

sounds like a horror flick in the making op :rolleyes:

Kess73

Birdnuts wrote: »

I see Angus is no longer with us:(

Aye. He was a credit to this forum, and a cracking mod.

Hope we see him back in one guise or another at some point.

magicbastarder

i hope his departure was for good reasons?